UPDATED 3/10/2022 - newest links appear at the bottom
The Hollywood Reporter: Michael Nesmith, Singer, Songwriter and Guitarist of The Monkees, Dies at 78
Tribute to Michael Nesmith on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
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1989. from Virginie Poulet on Vimeo.
And here are some photos from the ceremony that I had never seen previously, courtesy of Lisa Duclo:
(Photos by Lisa Duclo)
A big thanks to Jeff Gehringer for sharing his personal photos of The Monkees receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on July 10, 1989, along with some shots from the post-ceremony press conference at the Sheraton-Universal Hotel.        Thanks to longtime contributor Scott Catton for sharing a photo of a pin made especially for the July 10, 1989 Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony.  Speaking of Scott, he happened to work security for the Walk of Fame event. You can see him in the photo below at the far right, wearing a Monkees Headquarters shirt, purchased from Gary Strobl, nonetheless! Scott is in good company - there's Bert Schneider to the right of the podium with his arms crossed.  This item was featured at an auction of some of Davy's personal collection that took place in New York City this past May.   (From the collection of Kevin Schmid) The Monkees received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on July 10, 1989. One half of Raybert, Bert Schneider, joined Micky, Michael, Davy, and Peter on that day. Bert was one of The Monkees' biggest fans. When he passed away in 2011, Monkees archivist Andrew Sandoval posted the following on Facebook: One of the last times I spoke to Bert he stopped our conversation to impress upon me, "By the way, I'm a Monkees fan." I think that says a lot about why The Monkees show happened, why the group became a group and why many of the projects Bert turned his hand to had the quality they did. He was a fan."  (Photo by Michael G. Bush) The Monkees and invited guests attended the Hollywood premiere of Head on November 19, 1968 at the Vogue Theatre.  It just so happens that you can find the group's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6675 Hollywood Boulevard, right outside of the Vogue. The Karate Kid Part III topped the marquee there on July 10, 1989, the day The Monkees received their star:  Micky, Michael, Davy, and Peter were bestowed the honor by the honorary mayor of Hollywood, Johnny Grant:  Here's a great picture of The Monkees from my collection...  (Photo taken after the Hollywood Walk of Fame presentation on July 10, 1989) Here's one from my collection!  (July 10, 1989) "Vagabond John" was written by Derek Lord, who was the drummer for the Peter Tork Project in the early 1980s. The song has remained a part of Peter's repertoire for years. In the video below, Peter performs it at a solo stop in 2012, while the audio file features a live version from a Project show at The Jetty in Bloomfield, New Jersey in 1983 (with Lord on lead vocals). Thanks to Kevin Schmid for passing along the Project live version! You might recall that the late Jerry Renino was a member of the Peter Tork Project. He also toured with The Monkees between 1989 and 2002. After the 1989 US Monkees tour, Jerry's band, Breakaway, became Davy’s road band in the early 1990s. Breakaway consisted of Steve Avitabile (keyboards), VJ Riccitelli (drums), and Rory Gordon (guitar). The group later added sax player Steve Barlotta, along with Wayne Avers (guitar) and VJ's brother Jimmy Riccitelli (keyboards). Monkees fans, of course, know Wayne Avers as the veteran guitarist in The Monkees' backing band. (The Riccitelli's have also toured with The Monkees through the years.) According to longtime Monkees fan Helen Pantuso (who also was largely responsible for the campaign to get The Monkees a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame), the Avitabile's in both the Peter Tork Project (Scott was the lead guitarist of the Project) and Breakaway are not related!  Left to Right behind Peter: bassist Jerry Renino, drummer Derek Lord, and guitarist Scott Avitabile (From the collection of Kevin Schmid) Helen talked more about Breakaway with the Live Almanac. "Scott and Jimmy were in a band called Rush Hour. I think VJ was in it, too, before joining Breakaway (there were 2 other drummers in Breakaway before VJ). They were all good friends and hung out together and even lived together. I think that Steve and Scott and maybe Jimmy shared a house at one point before Steve got married. I know VJ lived in the downstairs apartment in the house Jerry lived in for a while. I'm not sure how they all connected with Wayne (Avers)." Helen continued. "Steve was found by Wendy Kaye. She was a booking agent with the Mars Agency. They handled Gary U.S. Bonds. Steve was Gary's sax player and musical director. Mars had just started booking Davy Jones so when Davy decided he wanted to add a sax player to Breakaway, Wendy recommended Steve." A big thanks to Helen Pantuso for all of the information in this post about Breakaway, as well as Fred Velez, who helped facilitate this conversation about Davy's former backing band. Fred recently published a book, A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You: The Monkees From a Fan's Perspective. You can download the electronic version of the book, and a hard copy is also now available. (Thanks, Fred!) Thanks again to Helen for also providing some pictures of members of Breakaway:  Rory Gordon, guitarist for Breakaway (Photo courtesy of Helen Pantuso)  L to R: Rory Gordon, Jerry Renino, Steve Avitabile of Breakaway (Photo courtesy of Helen Pantuso)  Steve Avitabile (Photo courtesy of Helen Pantuso)  Breakaway associate Helen Pantuso (far right) and company (Photo courtesy of Helen Pantuso)  Helen Pantuso poses with The Monkees at the group's Hollywood Walk of Fame induction on July 10, 1989 (Photo courtesy of Helen Pantuso)  (Photo by Michael G. Bush) Michael G. Bush took some of the best photos of The Monkees in the 1980s and 1990s. Here he poses with the group after they had received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on July 10, 1989. This photo was taken by original Monkees photographer and friend, Henry Diltz.  (Photo by Henry Diltz)  (Photos from the collection of Jeff Gehringer)  |
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